Gas and air mixing apparatus.



No. 685,027. Patented-Oct. 22, mm.

4 E. BLASSEB. GAS AND AIR MIXING APPARATUS.

(Application filed. Dec. 17, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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a considerable number of burners.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

ERNEST BLASSER, O F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

GAS AND AIR MIXING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 685,027, dated October 22, 1901.

Application filed December 17, 1900, Serial No. 40,076. ca model.) I

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ERNEST BLASSER, a citizen of the United States, residing in Boston, in the county of Suitolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Gas and Air Mixing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This is an improvement in that class of gas distributing apparatus-in which air is mixed with the gas before it reaches the burners; and the invention applies particularly to apparatus or systems which supply or comprise In my apparatus I draw,by means of a pump,gas and air through respective inlets, the properproportions being regulated by means of valves, into a mixing-chamber in the pump and discharge the mixture of air and gas by means of the return action of thepump into a receiver or reservoir, from which it is distributed by pipes and valves to different parts of a building or through the street-main to different house-pipes. Thereservoir or receiver is provided with an automatic regulator, which starts or stops the motive power for operating the pu mp at any set pressure. A needle-valve is provided at the base of each burner for regulating the pressure at its burner.

By using high pressure in the main pipe and regulating it at the entrance to the house by reducing-valves smaller pipe can be used throughout the entire system, thereby reducing the cost of construction and maintenance, and, moreover, a more equal distribution of the pressure of the lighting fluid is produced. In other systems of lighting of this general class now in common use pressure is applied only to the air which is supplied, the gas having onlythe pressure in the main, and the air and gas are mixed at a given point in the main pipe, with the efiect that when one or more lights are added or extinguished resort must be had to the regulatingwalves. In my system or apparatus the pressure is equalized automatically,'and the air and gas are mixed in the pump, so that the puttingon or off of any number of lights does not in the least affect their regularity. I do not regulate in the main pipe, but govern the flow at each burner by means of individual needle-valves at the burners, thus obviating the necessity for regulators or for different-sized openings in the burners. In this system thepressure on the gas and air is equalized before distribution. Moreover, when all the lights are turned off there is no back pressure against the gas nor valves to close, as in the systems now in use, and in such systems ifthe air and gas valves are not closed when the last light is turned off the air will force the gas back (there being no outlet) against the checkvalve close to the meter.

The nature of the invention is fully described below and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which the figure is a view in elevation of my improved apparatus, a portion of the pump being represented as broken out.

Supported by a base a is a pump A of ordinary construction and provided with the piston A and piston-rod A. The brokenout portion of the pump shows the mixingchamber B. Supported on the base is a receiver or reservoir 0. An air-inlet pipe D, provided with a suitable regulating-valve D and check-valve D, leads into the mixingchamber B. A gas-inlet pipe E, provided with a suitable regulating-valve E and check-valve E", and the equalizing gas-bag F, leads into the mixing-chamber, and a pipe G, provided with a regulating-valve G and check-valve G, connects the mixing-chamber with the interior of the reservoir. A steam-pipe b supplies the power to the pump, such supply being automatically regulated by means of the regulator H, Which'acts on the arm H, extending from a valve h in said pipe. The lever-arm H in the illustration rests upon an upright stem projecting from the regulator H, which stem on well-known principles rises and falls through a determined range in accordance with the variations of pressure in the reservoir 0, thus moving the lever-arm H through a small are. This are of movement is suflicient to control the efficient aperture of valve h, and thus regulate the de= livery of steam or any other form of fluidpressure to the motor, a steam-motor being herein used for purposes of illustration.

K represents a main pipe provided with a shut-ofidevice L,from which pipe house-pipes or branch pipes K extend to different houses or sections, each said branch pipe being provided with a pressure-regulating device L.

P P represent the distributing-pipes in the houses, provided with a plurality of burners S, two only being shown for each pipe for purposes of illustration, these two representing the burners throughout an entire building or locality supplied by a single pipe K. Each burner is provided at its base with a needlevalve V, extending into the coupling V, formed with the chamber V, from which a passage V extends from the burner. The operation and construct-ion of a needle-valve are well known.

The air and gas enter the mixing-chamber B in the pump through the pipes D and E, respectively, the former opening into the atmosphere and the latter connecting with the street-main. Thepumpisoperated bysteampower through the pipe 5, and as the piston moves toward the left it draws in the air and gas and mixes them in the proportions allowed by the valves D E, and as the piston moves toward the right it forces the mixture of air and gas through the pipe G into the receiver or reservoir C, the amount entering said reservoir being regulated by the valve G. The passage of steam, and hence the power applied to the pump, is automaticallyregulated, according to the pressure in the reservoir, by the regulator H. The gas is forced from the reservoir through the main pipe K (the shutoff L being opened) and thence through the branchpipes K, provided with the pressureregulators L, to the pipes P, which directly supply the burners. As each burner is provided with a needle-valve, which regulates absolutely the supply of gas to its corresponding burner, which when once adjusted is permanently adjusted, there is no necessity for regulating the supply between the pressureregulators L and the burners when the number of lights is increased or decreased, nor for the employment of anykind of a regulater, aside from the needle-valves described, between the pressure regulators and the burners, nor for the employment of any regulator whatever between the pressure-regulators and the burners, which acts upon the main or general supplyin contradistinction from the individual supply to each burner. Hence it is not necessary to apply to the burners in a system of this character orifices of different sizes, through which the gas is fed to the different burners. In my contrivance any number of burners maybe used and any proportion of them lighted or extinguished without operating any regulator or valve of any kind, as the pressure or supply at the burners is equalized, and there is no effect produced upon one burner by the use or disuse of another. In other words, I do not regulate the main supply, but regulate at the individual burners. The regulation and mixture really occur in the pump.

Another advantage of this invention is that instead of bein g obliged to apply larger pipes than those found in towns and cities for the supply of ordinary gas when a system of this general character is to be applied I can use the same pipes with greater pressure. This is because in other systems of this class only the gas-pressure found is employed, while in my system I employ a pump and mix my gas in it, so that from thatpoint the gas is ready for use. This is contrary to the ordinary method of applying pressure to the air alone and mixing the gas and air at a point in the main pipe, so that regulating-valves must be provided and frequently resorted to as the number of lights is lessened or increased.

Any suitable power maybe employed to operate the pump.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a gas-distributing apparatus, a mixingpump, a gas-inlet pipe to said pump, an airinlet pipe to said pump, said pipes each provided with a suitable regulating-valve and a check-valve respectively, a reservoir for mixed air and gas underpressure, a pipe connection between said reservoirand said pump, provided with a suitable regulating-valve and a check-valve, a regulator mounted on said reservoir, controlled by the fluid-pressure in the reservoir, a motor for the pump, means for regulating said motor, a connection be tween said means and the regulator mounted 011 the reservoir whereby the power is automatically controlled by the pressure in the reservoir, and a pipe leading from the reservoir to a distributing system, substantially as specified.

ERNEST BLASSER.

Witnesses:

HENRY W. WILLIAMS, A. N. BONNEY. 

